# SEO glossary and web basics (/docs/glossary)

---
type: Document
title: SEO glossary and web basics
description: Core SEO and web-infrastructure terms used throughout this record — niche, keyword, SERP, KD, search intent, and how a search engine and the web itself work.
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generated: { by: human:ahmedraza, at: 2026-09-15T12:51:10Z }
ksor:
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  approval: { by: human:ahmedraza, at: 2026-09-15T12:51:10Z }
sources:
  - id: iskills-course-notes
    title: iSkills — course notes
    resource: "iSkills SEO course notes, compiled 2025"
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These are the base terms the rest of this record assumes. Read this first if a
later document uses a word without defining it.[^iskills-course-notes]

## Niche and domain terms

- **Niche** — the topic of a website. Example: niche = wireless mic; types of
  niches within it = "best wireless mic", "buy wireless mic".
- **Domain** — the address of a website on the internet, like a nameplate that
  tells people where to find it. **Domain name** is the unique name itself
  (`google.com`, `yahoo.com`).
- **Keyword** — a specific word or phrase people type into a search engine.
  Example: "best running shoes" is a keyword.
- **Search volume** — how many times a keyword is searched in a search engine
  within a period, usually monthly. Not the same thing as **search traffic**,
  which is how many visits a *website* actually gets from search — a keyword
  or niche has a search volume; a website has search traffic.
- **SERP (Search Engine Results Page)** — the page a search engine shows after
  a query: websites, pages, images, videos.
- **Trend** — a general movement in a direction over time (fashion,
  technology, business, social behaviour). Google Trends shows which niche is
  trending.
- **Keyword difficulty (KD)** — how hard it is to rank a keyword; it measures
  the competition you'll face reaching the top results.
- **Search intent / user intent** — the goal behind a user's search query;
  understanding it lets a search engine (and a content writer) return the most
  relevant result.
- **Citation** — a mention of a website or source, used as a reference or
  credibility signal (e.g. a search engine or an AI answer citing a page as
  where an answer came from).

## Types of niches (by intent)

1. **Knowledge base intent** — factual answers (e.g. exam results, admissions).
2. **FMA (First Mover Advantage)** — the edge a business gets from being first
   to a market.
3. **Downloadable intent** — users want a file (software, e-book, template,
   music, image) for offline use. Related: **e-commerce intent** — users want
   to buy a product online.
4. **Affiliate-based intent** — users intend to promote or buy through
   affiliate links, earning a commission on the sale.
5. **Service-based intent** — users want to buy or promote a service
   (consulting, legal, marketing, beauty, cleaning, fitness).
6. **Local business intent** — users want a nearby business (restaurants,
   shops, local services).
7. **Tool-based intent** — users want a specific tool or app to complete a task.
8. **Event-based intent** — users want information about a time-bound event
   (conference, concert, sports, wedding).

## How a search engine works

"Search engine" is no longer only Google, Bing, and Yahoo — an LLM (ChatGPT,
Claude, Gemini) now also answers search-like questions directly, sometimes
citing a page as its source. The mechanics below describe a traditional
search engine; a later document covers what changes when the "search engine"
is an AI answering directly (see *Why SEO matters, and what ranks a page*).

A traditional search engine follows three steps to surface relevant pages
among billions:

1. **Crawling** — bots (crawlers/spiders) scan the internet for new and
   updated pages, following links from page to page.
2. **Indexing** — a crawled page is stored in a massive database, the index.
   The engine analyses content, keywords, images and structure; duplicate
   content or errors can keep a page out of the index.
3. **Ranking** — when a user searches, the engine ranks indexed pages by
   relevance and quality.

## Networking basics behind every website

- **ISP (Internet Service Provider)** — a company giving individuals and
  businesses internet access (fiber, DSL, cable, satellite, dial-up, wireless).
- **URL (Uniform Resource Locator)** — the web address used to reach a
  resource, e.g. `https://www.example.com/blog/article.html`.
- **WWW** — an optional subdomain prefix before the main domain.
- **DNS (Domain Name System)** — the internet's phonebook: it translates a
  domain name (`google.com`) into an IP address (`142.250.130.14`) that
  computers use to identify each other.
- **SSL (Secure Sockets Layer)** — a security protocol that encrypts the
  connection between a browser and a server, shown as the padlock icon in the
  address bar.
- **Web hosting** — a service that stores a website's files on a server so it
  is reachable when someone types the domain name.
- **HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure)** — the encrypted, secure
  version of HTTP; it protects data moving between a browser and a website
  from interception.

[^iskills-course-notes]: iSkills SEO course notes, compiled 2025.